Now’s the Time to Prioritize Well-being

Your Country Needs You Strong

Warrior II pose, Parque National de la Sierra Nevada, Granada, Spain.

I'm pretty obsessed with my health and well-being. But I got sick, and tried to ignore it, pushing through a three-day online non-fiction writers conference, coughing, hacking, head vice-gripped by pain as I smiled bravely from my postage-stamp square of Zoom screen. Shame on me: I suffered for a whole week before dragging myself into a clinic where I was diagnosed with a regular old garden variety sinus infection – likely induced by the pollen storm that swirled around the DMV – to which my delicate ENT system was susceptible.

Standing at the pharmacy window, throbbing head in hand, waiting on my prescription, I could not have felt more grateful: 1. To myself for (eventually) listening to my body and seeking the needed care; 2. To the PA at the clinic who treated me kindly and expertly; 3. To Alexander Fleming for discovering the miracle mold that would cure me in a mere seven days. Before antibiotics, people simply died from sinusitis!

But I am not going to die, which is good news. Because I have work to do – and so do you. Now, more than ever, as our country gets riddled, from the inside out, by the diseases of callousness, oppression and injustice, we must build-up our own self-defenses. We must get healthy and strong in order to stand-up for what’s right. Unhealthy, we are of no use to anyone – ourselves, our families, our communities, our democracy. What’s more, our health care system, feeble as it is, may not, for much longer, be there for us.

We best learn to care for ourselves, and for each other.

One thing I do for myself, religiously, each morning – even through my sinusitis recovery – is a simple routine of gentle (and sometimes more vigorous) yoga. I get out of bed and get right down on my mat – try not to get distracted by chores or social media or even brushing my teeth. Once there, I flow through a series of poses synchronized with my breath – a kind of moving meditation that strengthens and stabilizes the body, as well as my whirling mind.

Stability of the body is the capacity to stand or endure – to maintain one’s center of mass over one’s base of support. The more stable we are, the more force we can produce – the more perturbations we can endure. Right now – given the extreme upheaval in our society – each day the powers-that-be delivering a new blow to our society and our standing in the world – to our jobs, housing, cost of living, dignity – we need that counterbalancing force from within. We need it daily and for years to come. This isn’t a sprint – it’s a marathon.

Bike ride around the Wildlife Loop, Assateague National Island, VA.

So please, do what you need to – give yourself permission to get your body in shape and keep it in strong – be it through daily walks or runs or lifting of weights or Power Core or spin or swim or dance or zumba before a zoom screen. Something. Every. Day.

As, today, I swallow my final capsule of Amox-Clav with lemon water, I feel the urge to hop on my bike and get a few miles in – feel the wind in my face and power returning to my legs – as the mind frees itself to imagine the ways in which I may be of service.

Service may mean being on front lines of a protest and getting arrested; though it need not. There are many ways to contribute: volunteering at a non-profit thwarted by cuts, signing petitions, calling congressmen, writing letters, sending prayers or money.

On my bicycle, out of a cleared, stabilized mind, came this post – a reminder to myself, and a message to you, about what matters most.

Reflection

·        What matters most to you?

·        At this time of societal instability, how will (or do) you care for your body?

·        When do you find your mind most stable and free to imagine?

·        How do you hope to be of service in this fight?